Where am I Wearing?: A Global Tour to the Countries, Factories, and People That Make Our Clothes

A consumer is an individual who buys goods or services. In Where Am I Wearing? Timmerman characterizes the United States as a consumer due to outsourcing its manufacturing overseas. He suggests that the role of Americans as consumers is essential for the economic growth of developing countries. At the same time, US citizens have a responsibility to be mindful of the products they buy and must decide what kind of consumer they want to be. Timmerman warns of the human cost of mindlessly purchasing only the cheapest products. He models the principle of becoming an “engaged consumer”—an individual who researches and supports manufacturing processes that prioritize the welfare of workers.

Globalization refers to the growing interdependence between countries and cultures due to international trade, technologies, and the migration of people. In the context of Where Am I Wearing? the term describes the process by which companies cut their costs by outsourcing jobs and manufacturing to less developed countries. Throughout the book, Timmerman outlines The Dual Aspects of Globalization, presenting the phenomenon as neither all good nor all bad. He explains how globalization caused the closing of garment factories and job losses in the United States and the subsequent exploitation of overseas workers. However, he also suggests that globalization is the first step toward the growth of developing countries’ economies.

Timmerman uses the term “glocal” to describe an individual actively engaged in local and global considerations. He argues that, ultimately, local ethical decisions impact the global and vice versa. Being a good glocal involves making as positive a contribution as possible to both one’s local and global community.

A producer is an individual, company, or country that makes or supplies commodities. In the context of Timmerman’s book, the term refers to the factory workers who make garments for export to the United States. In Where Am I Wearing? Timmerman emphasizes how globalization alienates American consumers from the workers who make their clothes. The resulting Gap Between Producers and Consumers makes customers less likely to concern themselves with workers’ human rights.

The “race to the bottom” is a socioeconomic term describing an environment in which companies or countries compete to produce a product at the lowest price. This ruthless process of undercutting competitors often leads to poorly paid workers and unsatisfactory working conditions. In Where Am I Wearing? Timmerman describes the historical shift of the “bottom” from the northern United States to the South and then to the Global South. His descriptions of the working conditions and wages of garment workers in Honduras, Bangladesh, Cambodia, and China illustrate the personal cost of the race to the bottom.

A sweatshop traditionally refers to a garment factory or workshop that offers poor pay and working conditions while demanding that workers commit to long hours. In Where Am I Wearing? Timmerman underlines how the term has become synonymous with the garment factories of developing countries. While its widespread use has made consumers more aware of the human cost of cheap clothing, he also emphasizes that the term fails to define the conditions that constitute a sweatshop. Furthermore, referring to all overseas factories as sweatshops suggests that they are indistinguishable in their standards. Timmerman’s experience visiting these factories leads him to conclude that some are comparable to American factories. Others offer wages and conditions that might not be acceptable to American workers but are an improvement on the alternatives available within the country’s economic context. For example, the Cambodian Levi’s makers experience a better standard of living than the workers at the city dump.